the blog of hasbean coffee

Its amazing, I talk to people who I don’t know or kind of know but not very well, the conversation comes around to professions. They tell me there a secretary or an admin assistant or something like that (just an example). I find writing and office tasks mind numbingly boring, but to be polite I respond with some interest and ask further questions but not letting on I’ve no interest in there profession at all, they are welcome to it. Then they ask me what’s your job, “I’m a coffee roaster”, and as soon as I utter those words within 10 seconds I know if they like or don’t like coffee. Sometimes it can be in a rude or very forthright way.

I’ve done some other wacky jobs in my time but never had to share peoples opinions on them in such a passionate way.

I particularly love it when they tell me they don’t like the taste of coffee. It’s a bit like saying I don’t like vegetables. I believe there is a coffee and a vegetable for us all out there, its just vegetables are far more accessible and we found them a lot quicker. Coffee for most people has been restricted to instant or maybe some stale old pre ground (no frozen or tinned like vegetables).

EDIT: Where did the vegetable analogy come from? For the record mines Asparagus 🙂

I can understand where you are coming from though. You wanna hear the stuff I have to put up with. You would think that the state of the service is my fault and I have to sort it out, oh and their juvenile problems…litter…oh that is when we turn up. Like you Steve I have to pretend to be interested and ask questions. It’s an art form mate and you do it proud.

I have the opposite problem. I work in an IT consulting company with some complex but benign projects that no-one could possibly be interested in, but people persist in trying to talk about something neither of us want to, (or about a problem they have with their home computer) when what I would really like to talk to them about is whatever coffee I’ve been roasting recently, and how to get the best flavour out of it.

I don’t so much have a favourite vegetable as favourite animals that eat vegetables.

I think for the most part people pretend to be interested, but when someone has a job working with something people can relate to it seems everyone really has to discuss it, and voice their opinion. I think this might be out of envy of having a meaningful job…;)

For my part I work as a film director and can’t count the number of times I’ve had to discuss, and often defend, other peoples work from idiotic critisism coming from people with no knowledge of film but thinking they’re experts! All this while keeping a civil tone and calmly pointing out that I’ve had nothing to do with the film etc.

The problem for most people is that they have never had coffee. They have been fobbed off with bitter dregs of some form in the name of coffee. You should tell them to reserve judgement until they have had some HasBean 😉

Please don’t tell me you were brave enough to ask Breako about his job!